Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday - Enchanted Mind

The mind is a wonderful thing and if you are a Writer, a Reader or both it can be a fantastic playground. Our brains are amazing!

So, today I give mention to a website called Enchanted Mind. Their tagline is "Magic Happens" and they have lots of categories to explore like humor, brain, mind, inspiration, creativity and more.  Don't you love the 'and more' - well sometimes the list can just get too long with categories and subcategories.  Head on over and explore a bit yourself.  Watch the short videos, explore, learn things, and if you're a writer, maybe get a fresh new idea.

And don't forget to tell me what you think in the comments below.

Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday - Wrighting Words

Heather E. Wright's Wrighting Words - resources for teens and young teen writers.  Lots of great info to get you going. Prompts, where to get published, info for writing teachers and more.  Her sight is definitely worth a visit.

Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday

A day late, but here nonetheless.  Sorry, got swamped yesterday, but who says Thurs. can't serve as Wed? 

Writer looking for a site to give you some tips on the ins and outs on character, inspiration, editing,  and story structure? Check out the site belonging to K. M. Weiland that lays claim to:  Helping Writers Become Authors .

Writers Writing - Pondering the Whys

I use Grammarly to check plagiarism because a twist in the tale must be more than another writer's kink.

Writing.

Fiction in particular.

Why is it we do it? Why do we write?

Yes, we want to tell stories. We enjoy that part.

But doesn’t it seem new writers are forever asking established writers about how they work? I admit to that same curiosity when I was a new writer. There is that element of curiosity for me. Now it seems the new writer wants to absorb that information like a sponge; whether the well-known, respected writer prefers to write by hand or at a computer; whether he or she prefers to write in solitude or at a coffee shop; whether that writer writes into the wee hours of the morning or prefers the rising dawn as a time to write; whether said writer outlines or wings it. All of that like knowing such tidbits will somehow transfer by osmosis the golden ring of success. It seems the new writer believes/hopes that if he or she can just understand the mechanical workings of a ‘successful’ author then that method can be duplicated and create a similar bubble of success for the new writer.

Big news! Surprise!  There is no magic wand, no perfect formula, no recipe if meticulously followed, that will guarantee writing success. Heck, nothing to even guarantee mediocrity. There’s no important “thing” such as pen vs. computer, large desk vs. small or daylight vs. darkness that will hurl said writer straight into success.

Nope, for that we have to circle back to where this post began.

It’s why we write.

If the only thing driving your writing forward is the desire for ‘success’ then you might not be in the right field, or perhaps you need to get into commercial writing of some stripe. Maybe fiction writing isn’t for you.

I think it’s safe to say we’d all like to be the ‘big name’ writers who pull in the big bucks and can write comfortably from whatever environment we choose. Reality check. Only a very small percentage of fiction writers are able to make their living at the craft. And, by the way, luck plays a very large role in which writers actually become those ‘big name’ writers. It isn’t that those said ‘big names’ aren’t talented, but what had to be added to that was being at the right place at the right time with the right story and the right drive to get there.

So what to do? Keep writing. Write what you love and put yourself out there. Your manuscript won’t be published, your screenplay optioned if you leave it in a drawer.

Don’t expect to uncover some magic formula that creates success. If you’re curious about other writer’s methods, ask, sure, why not? Incorporate some of those methods if it makes you feel better, but remember that ultimately your success lies with you. Methods of writing don’t have much to do with it, other than simply getting it done. So gather your tools. Write, create, tell stories. Be in the right place at the right time with the right story.

No matter HOW you do it, writing the story is the only path that will lead you to writer’s success.

And Speaking of tools: 

Typing Tutors 

Spell Checker Dangers

Software for Writers 

Word Power Made Easy

Writers & Readers Websites Wednesday

This one's for the writers out there and for the curious readers who love to learn what goes into putting a story together.  It's Stephen King on Wordplay - writing about creating imagery.  It's a fairly lengthy article as online posts go - but well worth the read.

Make Them Laugh, Make Them Cry

Writing is always a tricky business. It’s the writer’s job to hook the reader without the reader knowing he or she has been hooked. You want the reader to fall in, enjoy the adventure and not be aware of you, the writer, or even the fact they’ve been ‘away’ except for that golden afterglow of reading a truly great story.

So, with that goal in mind, among many other facets is the writer’s ability to give the reader reason to laugh and/or cry. Emotion is vital to keeping your reader involved in your story – right readers?

One might seem easier to accomplish than the other but they’re pretty much neck and neck in my book.

Let’s make them laugh.

Here’s the thing. People are not all exactly alike, but we share a lot of triggers. What a lot of people share, including agents and editors is a love of wit. And may I add wit isn’t precisely humor. Lots of people get a laugh out of slapstick, you know a fall on slippery ice or pie in the face. But that kind of humor doesn’t really involve the brain, wit does. And to key in to wit we need to realize surprise can cause laughter, absurdity too as well as understatement. All are elements, tactics you can use to add wit to the story you’re writing. And your characters are more likely sources for this than your plot.

Think about characters like the bone-steeped archaeologist with his many degrees who is socially inept.  Or what about the accountant so adept at guiding is clients but who can’t control his own impulsive online spending. Or a CEO who diplomatically keeps peace in his office, but has the war of the gardens going on at his semi-palatial home. 

There are many more – and lots more ways to put grins on readers faces.  Think about it. Read other books or scripts and think about what made you smile.

Want to make them cry?

Yep, you do. And here’s an even better point to be made. If you create an atmosphere where readers laugh and cry reading the same book, they’re sure to remember it. And if they remember it they’ll in all probability be looking for another book with your name on it as author.

So, how to make them cry ~

No, don’t just have the family dog die. It’s more than that. It’s that by which the reader is so wrapped up in the story that they feel for the characters. Doesn’t matter whether it’s Bambi and his mother just got killed by the hunters or whether it’s that homemaker who while making a special birthday cake for her kid just found it fell flat in the oven.

It’s emotional suspense, build up, anxiety in anticipation, process and a final really great payoff.

To accomplish all that it can’t happen quick. You can’t just toss in pathos.

As the writer you must take your time whether you write fast and blast it onto the page, then rewrite or whether you go slowly to begin with, what you write needs to build from a small, single seed.

When thinking about this consider your characters. Do you want to break a heart? Who among people are the most vulnerable? Children? Romantics? Dreamers?

How about this. You have a war veteran. He’s been working with a military dog – gone through hell with him. They’ve been best friends and watched each other’s’ backs. He retires from the service with his dog and they go camping. Somehow they’re separated. Circumstances force the soldier to go, believing his friend dead  – but he never stops thinking about the dog in the wilderness – will they find each other again?  Readers think the dog dead; but still they hope.

Readers can be swept up in stories that make them laugh and cry, not thinking about or even caring what it is about that story that sweeps them along.

It’s up to you as the writer to find those human links, the chords that resonate and to pluck them in a way that touches the heart.